Japan's business mood reaches decade-maximum

05:56 02.10.2017

Big Japanese manufacturers demonstrate more confidence in the country’s business conditions compared to a decade ago because a weak yen as well as robust global demand spur the economic recovery, as a closely watched key bank survey disclosed on Monday.

In a sign the revival was extending, small manufacturers' business confidence also reached a decade-maximum, while the ratio of companies complaining of labor shortages hit a 25-year peak, as the Bank of Japan's "tankan" quarterly poll states.

The positive data could help premier Shinzo Abe as the statesman tries to persuade Japanese voters in an October 22 election that his ambitious "Abenomics" stimulus policies have drastically improved their livelihoods.

It also underpins BOJ policymakers' hopes that a sustained economic revival will spur wages as well as household spending, although many financial experts expect inflation to stay distant from the key bank's 2% objective.